this is picked up by house majority leader dick armey and candidate steve forbes in the '90s and again it did not go anywhere. then convinces idea may not work he traduced the flat tax was graduated rates and that is still popular from the american enterprise institute. that idea is still around also. the fair tax, retail sales tax, and then there is an interesting plan which is the value-added tax to collect most of the revenue but then must have a higher exemption level much like the original income tax of 1913 from world war ii. why do people advocate consumption tax? some say it is economic growth and competitiveness because you removed the tax with a return for savings and investment. competitiveness, and did exams exports with the business tax variety. the fairness issues they were the ones that were stressed that the idea of fairness consumption tax better measures income to pay over somebody's life time in contrast where people with the same present value of lifetime income and it discriminates against people who discriminate later in life the earnings pattern are such they ear